Italian may mean high maintenance... but oh, when it's working!

When I decided to update my road bike components several years ago, I decided to change from Shimano 8-speed Dura-Ace to Campagnolo 10-speed Record.  Why?  Well, it wasn't exactly that well thought-out, since my tri-bike has Shimano components, so I can't swap between them.  My cyclocross bike, though, has Campagnolo 10-speed, so it's not completely crazy.  Anyway, I put a new chain on my road bike, and cleaned the cassette, derailleurs and crankset prior to putting them on.  I took apart the cassette to clean it, remembering that the spacers were not uniform.  For some reason, Campagnolo makes spacers that are differentiated.  I suppose it makes the shifting better, but I couldn't figure out why.  After all, Shimano's cassettes have uniform spacers and their shifting seems to work pretty well.  I even pulled out the technical manual that came with the cassette (yes, I keep those things) and looked at it. 

So, after cleaning and then reassembling the cassette last night, I ran through the gears to make sure it was shifting cleanly.  Every cog shifted smoothly except for the 17.  It kept getting hung up and I could not get it to work.  I went to bed, figuring that I would work on it in the morning.  As I was getting ready to fall asleep, the idea that I had assembled the spacers incorrectly went through my mind.  When I woke up this AM, I looked at the schematics of the technical manual, and then took off the cassette.  Yup, I had reversed the spacer between the 23-25 and the 19-21.  When I switched them, reassembled the cassette, and ran through the cogs, it shifted smoothly, even the 17.  Ah-ha!  Taking my bike out for a ride today, after having put on a new chain, and cleaned the drivetrain, everything worked smoothly.  The shifting in a Campagnolo drivetrain is just more solid than I've found in a Shimano drivetrain, at least between road bikes.  The brifters don't rattle, and each shift is a solid "thunk" rather than a "snick" that I've experienced with Shimano. 

And maybe that's why there are three different types of spacers in a Campagnolo cassette.  But, it just reminds me that it requires just a bit more attention than Shimano.  And it reminds me of the reputation of Italian sports cars:  they are fantastic to drive, but are much more finicky.  But, as I rode my bike today and felt the satisfaction of each positive shift and how the drivetrain hummed along, I understood why people still buy Italian sports cars.